The Monarchy and the Constitution

Vernon Bogdanor

The Monarchy and the Constitution

Vernon Bogdanor

Description

In the increasingly questioning world of the 1990s, the role of the monarchy in a democracy is again coming under scrutiny. Its critics argue that the monarchy is a profoundly conservative institution which serves to inhibit social change; that it has outlived its usefulness; that it symbolizes and reinforces deference and hierarchy; and that its radical reform is therefore long overdue.

Rejecting these arguments, Vernon Bogdanor makes a powerful case for the positive role that monarchy plays in modern democratic politics. Ranging across law, politics, and history he argues that far from undermining democracy, the monarchy sustains and strengthens democratic institutions; that constitutional monarchy is a form of government that ensures not conservatism but legitimacy.

The first serious examination of the political role of the monarchy to appear in many years, this book will make fascinating reading for all those interested in the monarchy and the future of British politics.

The Monarchy and the Constitution

Vernon Bogdanor

Table of Contents

1. The Evolution of Constitutional Monarchy2. The Basic Constitutional Rules: The Rules of Succession3. The Basic Constitutional Rules: Influence and the Prerogative4. The Appointment of a Prime Minister5. The Constitutional Crises6. Hung Parliaments and Proportional Representation7. The Financing of the Monarchy8. The Sovereign's Private Secretary9. The Sovereign and the Church10. The Sovereign and the Commonwealth11. The Future of Constitutional MonarchyAppendix 1. Sovereigns since Henry VIIIAppendix 2. British Prime Ministers since 1782Appendix 3. Private Secretaries since 1870Appendix 4. Member states of the Commonwealth, 1995Appendix 5. Some Constitutional Episodes Involving the Use of Royal Power since 1900